How tight is good?

[toby]

After lurking here for a while, it seems like a large amount of hand advice is "fold that crap preflop" and i just read "fold to the checkraise."

I'm assuming most of this advice pertains to full games (10 people) so your hand has to be solid to hold up.

In general do you (profitable) players hold strictly to HPFAP group hands like 1-3 EP, 1-5MP, and 1-5 LP and raising only the top hands?

Also does this advice change in NL, where you can more easily throw in a large amount of money to bluff/buy a pot, or to scare someone off who has a drawing hand?

I'm inexperienced at limit, have only played 3-6 in AC and small limits on PP and it seems like every hand is a showdown. What if you raise with AKs and the flop is all rags? Am I just impatient if I want to play more hands in a full table than just the group 1-3 hands?

Sorry for the rambling, relatively pointless post. I think my main question is in the Subject - can you be too tight? any comments welcome,

-Toby

[Nottom]

I think my main question is in the Subject - can you be too tight?

You can be too tight. 99.99% of poker players don't have that problem though and judging by your post, neither do you.

[fadedblue]

What's more important to you, playing a lot of hands, or winning consistently? Some people like to really gamble, play a lot of hands, and get a thrill hitting the miracle card on the river. It's a free country. If you would like to win consistently over the long run you need to be much tighter. How tight will vary depending on the individual game and how many players are at the table. Start out playing strictly the Sklansky hands as they are outlined. Give it a real trial, several hundred hands. Adjust your style and tactics to fit the games you play in most to maximize potential profits. If you get too bored, mix it up a little bit to throw people off and convince them you're a gambler from time to time, but infrequently as it costs you money in the long run.

Not everyone has the personality to play correctly tight poker.

[LetsRock]

[ QUOTE ]
Give it a real trial, several hundred hands.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't mean to be picky here, but several hundred hands is not a "real trial". I've gone several hundred hands without seeing a playable hand. You have to really commit to this and not be swayed when you do get a playable hand and it gets beat. No starter hand is unbeatable no matter how strong it is, but in the long run (thousands and thousands of hands) you'll see the profit of playing by the book.

No, it's not fun when you sit for hours and just watch the game because you're getting nothing but rags. Nor is it fun to get into a rotten streak where you have bunches of great starters smoked by rags. And it's even worse when the two scenarios play out at the same time.

But over all, sticking to starters recommended by the experts is the correct, profitable play. You have to be careful about applying some of the "moves" they recommend in the lower limits because most of your opponents are just not smart enough to get the "hints" or they just don't care because the stakes aren't high enough to be painful.